Bill allows news media to report on disasters

A twice-defeated Senate bill that would allow media access during island disasters and emergencies has passed one committee and is on its way to the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee.

But new language inserted into Senate Bill 655 by the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs still gives emergency management officials “sole discretion in determining the access granted to media members …”

Without the new language, SB655 read: “Nothing in this section shall prevent a duly authorized representative of any news service, newspaper, radio station, television station, or online news distribution network from entering an area closed pursuant to this section. News media shall be given all reasonable access and assistance in accessing the area closed pursuant to this section. When full access cannot be reasonably granted, a pool writer, pool photographer, and pool videographer shall be designated to gather and disseminate information.”

The bill grew out of the largely successful effort by Hawaii County officials in 2014 and 2015 to bar national and local reporters, photographers and videographers from seeing firsthand the lava flow that disrupted life and commerce in Pahoa in Hawaii island’s Puna District.

Last week, four members of the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs unanimously referred the bill to the Judiciary and Labor Committee.

It had been introduced by five senators, three of whom represent parts of the Big Island.

State Sen. Lorraine Inouye (D, Kaupulehu-Waimea- North Hilo) introduced similar bills in the 2015 and 2016 legislative sessions and is trying again this session.

“It’s so unfortunate,” Inouye said. Emergency Management officials “don’t understand that the people have a right to know what’s going on in our communities.”

State Sen. Russell Ruderman (D, Puna) called Hawaii County’s media management of the 2014/2015 lava flow “too extreme.”

“It felt like there was a media blackout,” Ruderman said. “We’d been living with flowing lava for 30-something years and suddenly no one could see it or take pictures of it, including reporters. It’s appropriate to allow reasonable media access even in dangerous situations, especially in dangerous situations. The public has a right to know and the press has a right to report it. With the lava threat we went far too far.”

Opponents of the bill include Honolulu Fire Chief Manuel Neves and Kauai Fire Chief Robert Westerman.

Except for their names and individual fire departments, Neves and Westerman wrote identically worded letters to the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that said SB655 “would present significant safety concerns and hinder first responders’ duties.”

Vern Miyagi, administrator for the state’s Emergency Management Agency, elaborated in his written comments and said the bill “does not address how the media access will be implemented with respect to safety, unique risks/hazards, affected resident concerns, availability of qualified personnel to escort the media and appropriate personal protective equipment, and other factors/concerns in the closed-off emergency area. It also does not address the liability concerns of the county and state. It should also define who is a ‘duly authorized representative’ of any news service/organization.”

The Senate committee amended the bill to also require that journalists must be credentialed and accompanied by emergency management personnel. And the committee included new language “limiting the liability of the State and counties and establishing liability for media personnel.”

Hawaii island journalist Karin Stanton, who is also vice president of the Big Island Press Club, acknowledged Miyagi’s point about who should be defined as a journalist in an age of bloggers and other online journalists.

But Stanton said those details can be worked out. And she noted that Hawaii and national journalists often work in a “pool” system as noted in the bill to address concerns about large groups of journalists at one event.

By not allowing any media access to disasters and emergencies, Stanton worries that Hawaii could fall in line with attacks on the media coming out of the Trump White House.

On Friday, Trump tweeted that, “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!”

For the Puna lava flow, Stanton said it was the first time that Hawaii island journalists faced such a situation “where access was severely restricted. It’s very difficult to cover a lava flow when you can’t see it.”

Asked why journalists and the public should not rely on government-produced videos, photos and accounts that Hawaii County officials disseminated during the flow, Stanton said “the ability to independently verify what any government or any organization or agency is telling you is critical.”